Yemen Government Forces Clash with Houthis in Taiz, Hodeidah and Red Sea Coast
Quick Look
- Yemen's internationally recognised government forces engaged in intense clashes with Houthi rebels across Taiz, Hodeidah and the western Red Sea coast, recapturing Hais district south of Hodeidah.
- Fighting resulted in over 60 civilian deaths in Taiz on Saturday, displacement of about 1,800 families, and Houthi shelling killing four civilians on the Taiz-Aden road.
- Government officials warned of harsh attrition against any Houthi movement toward Bab al-Mandeb strait.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The clashes represent a continuation of Yemen's prolonged civil war between the internationally recognised government and Houthi rebels, who control significant territory including the capital Sanaa. The fighting has recently intensified along key fronts in Taiz, Hodeidah and the Red Sea coast, areas of strategic importance for humanitarian access and maritime trade routes.
Military forces of Yemen’s internationally recognised government have been engaged in intense clashes with Houthi rebels across multiple fronts, most heavily in the Taiz and Hodeidah provinces and along the western Red Sea coast.
Yemen’s military said it recaptured Hais district, south of Hodeidah, an area linking the provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz and Ibb, according to Turkiye’s Anadolu news agency.
The Presidential Leadership Council chairman, Rashad al-Alimi, said that Yemen’s armed forces are capable of restoring full control over the country’s territory, warning that the Houthis “will bear the consequences”.
Taiz “will not be a corridor” for the group’s backers, he added, in reference to Iran.
He said the Houthis’ “miscalculations” would lead to their “complete collapse.”
The latest fighting continues the tit-for-tat attacks that broke out last week, with air raids and ground offensives between government troops and the Iran-backed rebels.
Fayad al-Numan, deputy undersecretary of Yemen’s Ministry of Information, said troops had also captured dozens of Houthi fighters during fighting in the nearby al-Jarahi district, where government forces later launched a counteroffensive.
Yemeni forces continued strikes on Houthi positions in areas across Taiz and Lahj on Saturday.
Yemeni media reported that the military’s drones destroyed Houthi reinforcements south of al-Jarahi in coordination with a ground assault.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported on Sunday that powerful explosions were heard in Taiz, noting the Yemeni Defence Ministry’s deployment of new weapons systems.
Yemen’s military spokesman, Colonel Majed al-Nozaili, said forces targeted a Houthi site in the province in response to the group’s “violations and escalation”.
The renewed clashes have taken a heavy toll on civilians.
Clashes in Taiz killed more than 60 people, including civilians, on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported.
Yemen’s state news agency Saba’a, meanwhile, reported that Houthi shelling of a civilian gathering on the road linking Taiz and Aden killed four civilians and injured nine others.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that about 1,800 families have been displaced over the past two days as fighting escalated in Taiz.
The Yemeni government has separately warned that any Houthi movement towards the Bab al-Mandeb strait would face “harsh attrition”.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Yemen's government forces will continue counteroffensives in Taiz and Lahj provinces
Likely · Within days
Houthi movement toward Bab al-Mandeb strait will face military resistance
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What is the exact number of Houthi fighters captured during the fighting?
- What new weapons systems has the Yemeni Defence Ministry deployed?
- How will the displacement of 1,800 families be addressed by humanitarian organizations?
- What specific violations did the Houthis commit that prompted the military response?
